Following news of the attack, celebrities and politicians expressed their thoughts on social media

He admitted the strikes now meant there was an increased risk of a conflict between the US and Russia.

“Of course there are greater risks, we hope that this doesn’t happen, we don’t want any escalation of the hostilities between any two countries.

“But at the same time, we cannot really sit still and watch hypocrites, schizophrenics attacking our country day and night.”

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin said the strike had seriously damaged ties between Washington and Moscow as he threatened to increase Russian military force in Syria in association with ally President Assad.

Mr Putin regarded the US action as "aggression against a sovereign nation" on a "made-up pretext", spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In a statement, Mr Trump said it was in the “vital national security interests” of the US to “prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons”.

He said: ”There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the UN Security Council."

The UK has also backed the move.

A Government spokesman said: "The UK Government fully supports the US action which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime and is intended to deter further attacks."